Stay-bolt.



B. I. DODDS.

STAY BOLT.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1911.

- Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ETHAN I. DODDS, OF CENTRAL VALLEY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, T FLANNERY BOLT COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

STAY-BOLT.

To all whomvlt may concern Be it known that I, ETHAN I. Donns, a

, citizen of the United States, residing at Central Valley, in thecounty of Orange and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Stay-Bolts, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to stay-bolts such as are employed for connectingthe outside and inside plates of locomotive and other boilers. A.serious defect which has hitherto existed in this class of stay-boltsresides in the incapacity of the bolt to adjust itself to the variationsin expansion and contraction of the plates owing to the rigidity of thebolt and its connections to the plates.

' The leading object of my invention is to provide an improved stay-boltcapable of a universal angular movement or yield at or near both endsthereof, so that the stay-bolt will be relieved of any vibration due tothe expansion of the firebox and crown sheets, permitting the sheets toexpand and contract at will, all teeter and vibration being absorbed inthe universal joints of the bolts, whereby a five-eighths inchbolt-shank will be ample in tension to resist the maximum boilerpressure, as compared with the presentpractice wherein rigid boltsvarying from seven-eighths of an inch to one and one-eighth inch arerequired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stay-bolt that canreadily be applied from the inside without the trouble and expense ofdismantling the engine, and can be adjusted at any time, if necessary,and can be applied, if desired, without tapping either sheet, andespecially Without tapping the sheet on the bias, which is a difficultoperation and likely to produce leakage.

The principle of my invention is capable of embodiment and practicalapplication in a large variety of more or less different specific forms;and in the accompanying drawings I have illustrated several of suchforms.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2, 8, 4, 5 and 6 inclusive arelongitudinal sectional views of different specific forms of my inventionall characterized by a hollow bolt having a ball and socket connectionwith the plates.

In the several figures 1 represents the inside plate of that portion ofthe locomotive boiler which embraces the fire box, and 2 is the outsideplate.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 25, 1911.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

Serial No. 651,051.

In Fig. 1, 3 designates the shank of the bolt which is hollow and at oneend is formed with a concave seat 4 to receive the ball-shaped head 5 ofa connector 6 that is screwed into the plate 1. At the opposite end ofthe shank 3 is a somewhat similar connector 7 having a threaded innerend 8 secured to the bolt-shank 3 by an internal nut 9 and a sphericalhead 10 engaging a concave seat 11 formed in a bushing 12 tapped throughthe wall 2. The outer end of the connector 6 has a wrench-hold 6 bywhich, after the parts have been assembled and applied, the desiredtension can be obtained.

In Fig. 2, 50 designates the bolt-shank in the form of a hollow memberhaving inwardly swaged ends forming seats 51. The seat at one end isengaged by the ball-shaped head 52 of a connector 53 secured in the wall1, and the seat at the opposite end is engaged by the ball-shaped head54 of a similar connector 55 that has a shank 56 threaded into a bushing57 set in the wall 2. In assembling, the balls 52 and 54 are firstentered into the open ends of the tube 50 and the ends of the latter areheated and swaged inwardly. The inner end of the bushing 57 is alsopreferably beveled to engage and reinforce the swaged end of the tube50; This may be applied at both ends, if desired.

The structure shown in Fig. 3 is quite similar to that of Fig. 2,employing the same tubular member 50 having inwardly swaged ends; .butin this case the connector 58 at one end has a threaded base 59 engagingthe wall 1' of such a size that the tube 50 can be entered through thethreaded aperture engaged by the base 59; and the ball 60 at the otherend is internally threaded to receive a threaded stud 61 passed throughthe wall 2. In this case a washer 62 surrounding the stud 61 and bearingupon the swaged end of the tube 50 is preferably employed at either orboth ends.

Fig. 4 also shows a tubular bolt-shank 63, the ends of which are swelledto form approximately spherical bearings 64 to receive the ball-shapedheads 65 and 66 of connectors 67 and 68. The connector 68 has a directthreaded engagement with the wall 1, while the connector 67 has threadedengagement with an inner bushing 69, this latter being threaded into anouter bushing 70 tapped into the Wall 2. The inner bushing 69 is beveledor chamfered at its inner end to engage the swelled end of the tubularshank 63, and the opposite end of the latter is shown as supplied withan external reinforcement 71, which latter may be applied at both endsif desired. Adjustment may be secured by turning the connector 67 oreither of the bushings in which it is carried, or by applying a wrenchto the squared projecting end 72 of the connector 68.

In Fig. 5 I show a bolt-shank 78 that is hollow and provided on one orboth sides with a slot 74 extending nearly the full length thereof andwith hemispherical seats 75 at its ends. The opposite side walls of theslot 7 1 are formed with notches or cutouts 76 to permit the insertionof the ballshaped heads 77 and 78 of connectors 79 and 80, respectively.The connector 80 is directly screwed into the wall 1 and provided with asquared end 81, and the connector 7 9 is similarly screwed into athreaded bushing 82 that engages a threaded aperture in the wall 2 ofsufficient size to permit the insertion of the bolt-shank therethrough.The connector 79 likewise has a squared end 83, and the propertensioning may be secured by applying a wrench to either of the squaredends 81 and 83.

Fig. 6 shows a construction generally similar to that of Fig. 4:, butemploying auxiliary means to resist the tension upon the hollow enlargedends of the stay-bolt shank. 128 designates the hollow bolt-shank havingspherical. end enlargements 129 that embrace ball-shaped heads 130 and131 on connectors 182 and 133, respectively. The connector 132 has athreaded shank 13 1 directly engaging the wall 1 and the connector 138has threaded engagement with a cone bushing 135 entered through the wall2. The connector 132 and the bushing 135 are internally threaded toreceive the washers 136 and 137, respectively, that are formed withconcave seats engaging the spherical ends 129 of the bolt-shank andcooperating with the heads 130 and 131 in resisting tensional strains onthe bolt-shank.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the broad underlying principleof my in vention is that of a double knuckle bolt which permits the freeand independent expanding and contracting movements of both plates andpermits them to equalize themselves while at the same time preservingthe bolts and plates from crystallization, and thus making possible theemployment of much lighter stock for the bolts themselves.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A flexible stay bolt comprising a hollow shank, and a connector ateach end of the shank and connecting the latter with the walls of theboiler, each connection being rigidly secured at one end to one of saidparts, and having a universal joint connection at its other end with theother of said parts, whereby the bolt is free to give or yield at eitherend to accommodate itself to the movements of both walls of the boiler.

2. A stay bolt comprising a bolt shank having rounded bearings at itsends, connectors adapted to be secured to the boiler walls and havingrounded heads fitting within the rounded bearings at the ends of theshank and a bushing separate from and carrying one of said connectorsand forming a support for the adjacent end of the bolt shank.

3. A stay bolt comprising a bolt shank having rounded bearings at itsends, connectors adapted to be secured to the boiler walls and havingrounded heads fitting within the rounded bearings at the ends of thebolt shank, and means separate from engaging the shank of one of saidconnectors and bearing against the outer surface of the adjacent roundedbearing of the bolt shank.

1-. A stay bolt comprising a bolt shank having rounded recessed bearingsat its ends, connectors adapted to be secured to the boiler walls andhaving rounded heads fitting within the rounded bearings at the ends ofthe bolt shank, and a threaded bushing embracing the threaded end of oneconnector and adapted to hear at its inner end against the outer end 01the bolt shank.

5. In a stay bolt, a connecting sleeve having both ends bent inwardly,and a pair of bolt members having enlarged ends fitting into said sleeveand held in place thereby.

ETHAN I. DODDS.

Witnesses:

A. VAN CRAnNnNBaoEon, L. Mnnnrr'r.

Goggles of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington. D. C.

